Massive Blitz in the Rain and Snow

A small bucktail jig fished off the float was
the ticket today. The jig does little harm to the
fish while being very effective when stripers
are feeding on peanut bunker.

Up until today, fishing the prior few days was a disappointment for this time of the year.  It has led many to believe that the season was just about over when you factor in the weather that was forecast for today.  Well, I'm going to put those negatives to rest.  What I fished in today was astounding.
I hit the oceanfront today at about noontime.  It was a balmy 54 degrees and raining lightly. Immediately, I was greeted by large scale bird activity. There were flocks of gannets dive bombing, gulls hitting the water and cormorants diving. I saw large dark patches of water the size of a small parking lot...peanut bunker by the millions moving along a quarter mile stretch of shoreline. Under all that were big schools of stripers. They were rolling in the waves and white water at times, breaking along the shore and actively blitzing behind the big waves rolling ashore.
The first twenty five casts, twenty five fish.  It was that nuts.  I was casting a float and jig with a plastic curly tail onto my jig.  The fish continued to hit most of the afternoon and they were all cookie cutter 20 inch schoolies with an occasional bigger schoolie.This mayhem kept going as the temperature kept dropping.  By 3 PM, the temperatures took a dive into the mid thirties, and it was now snowing. My hands were numb from the cold but the fish were still moving along the shore in front of me. By 3:30, I couldn't stand it anymore and walked back to my truck to call it quits. Before leaving, I took one more peek at the water, and sure enough, the mayhem continued with not a fisherman in sight!
I might add that every fish I landed today on that jig was released in good shape.  That single hooked jig that has a hook that rides upward is your best bet when catching and releasing fall schoolies.